Published June 1988 | Version v1
Journal article

Chemical state of tellurium in a degraded LWR core

  • 1. Osaka Univ., Suita (Japan). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering

Description

Changes of the chemical state of tellurium in the heatup stage of a severe fuel damage accident are estimated thermodynamically. According to equilibrium calculations with the SOLGASMIX-PV code, tellurium exists as cesium telluride, as the element or possibly as PdTe during normal operation. In the heatup stage of an accident, elemental tellurium is absorbed in the Zircaloy cladding by formation of ZrTex (x=1-2). Cesium telluride does not react with Zr even under the low oxygen potentials favoring the Zr/UO2 reaction. Tellurium is also absorbed in oxygen-stabilized alpha-zirconium. The stability of Cs2Te in the steam/hydrogen atmosphere is discussed. (orig.)

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
J. Nucl. Mater.
Journal Volume
154
Journal Issue
1
Series
J. Nucl. Mater.
Journal Page Range
62-66
ISSN
0022-3115
CODEN
JNUMA

Conference

Title
US-Japan joint seminar on the high-temperature chemistry of current light-water reactors and of advanced all-metal reactors.
Dates
8-12 Jun 1987.
Place
Tokyo (Japan).